"Then you have much to learn before I leave this world." Henry started evenly, turning to face his son. "You have so, so much to learn of being a King. At every moment, nothing can matter more than your country, your subjects, Francis." Henry pauses as Francis turns to him. "Not your pretty Scottish bride, not your Fleming harlot, nor your new bastard child. Nothing and nobody can matter more than France does. You put her and her people at risk. And you didn't have to. You did not have to gamble fate and history. If you were that worried for your harlot and your child-"
"Lola is not my harlot!" Francis exclaims, cutting into his father's words. "Lola is not my mistress, nor is she my lover. She's the mother of my child, my wife's lady who -as we speak- pleads upon her knees for my wife's mercy!" he says loudly. "You may have Diane or Kenna or Lola's mother at your disposal, but I am not like you, father. I have no mistress, no lover bar my wife. I made a mistake, two mistakes. One out of pity and misery, the other out of impulsiveness. You may impugn my character for these things, but do not make me out to be back to my Playboy Prince days!"
"Be that as it may, you risked so many and so much for nothing. If you were so frightened for their well being, why didn't you send guards and a midwife to their bedside? Must you have gambled the hand of fate to make sure a foolish child and an unfortunate offspring remain in this world?"
Francis turns again. Henry spins him around with "I may be your father, but I am still your King. You do not put your back to me." he hisses. "Your actions were very noble, defending the whore's honour and saving the life of the child she bore. I will admit. But they were foolish and reckless. Believe me when I tell you how irritated I am with your conduct. But you and I must acknowledge that it doesn't matter anymore. It can't." Henry took in a deep breath. "The child. I assume your mothers' spying pays off when she tells me you wish to claim the child?" the King asks.
"Yes, Father." Francis replies. Henry sighs loudly.
"Oh, Francis. How can anybody make a King out of you when you think the way you do?" he asks, turning away from him. Henry placed his hands upon his hips, the cape he wore extending outwards like an eagle's wings.
"What?" the Dauphin of France asked. He was mildly offended by his fathers words, but he had learned from a young age to guard himself from his father's feelings.
"Would you like to know why I never christened my sons Sebastian or even Henry with lands and titles?" the King of France asks. Francis nods. Only once had Sebastian came even close to being recognised as the King's son, officially anyway.
"Why?"
"Not just because of my love and respect for my wife, that was a factor within my choice, but because I knew what it would do to not only them, but myself." he says. "Believe me, you wish not to enter a world where your nobility think you weak and sentimental for claiming a bastard child." he says. "Do you not remember when I put a son in your son's grandmothers' womb?" the King sighs. "Do you remember how scorned and ridiculed Lady Fleming became? How she was sent back to Scotland, disgraced and ruined. Back to her husband who hated her?" he asks. Francis swallows thickly. "When that child came from his mothers' womb and came to Court for a while, did you remember how scorned and mocked he was? How nannies damn near spat upon the child, simply because he was born out of wedlock?" Henry turns to face Francis. "The brother you two share has to live within hiding. Can you imagine what that would be like if I had officially recognised him? He'd be placed upon nobility, where people wouldn't just mock and belittle him for his mere existence, but they'd slide around him like vipers. They would take what little power he had for their own gain, and they would take his head for good measure. He'd be put in a tenfold more danger in this world. Why would I do that to a son I loved?" he asked. Francis parted his lips in an exhale, turning to the side for just something to do. "Do you not remember how much Sebastian was mocked and hated by everybody in Court as a child? The nannies wouldn't even tend to him at night as a baby. You didn't know that." Henry sighs. "A few did, of course. I was Dauphin at the time, as you are now. I saw how my son was belittled, how the noble children of legitimate blood wouldn't go near him as you were a newborn yourself. And as he aged, the ladies of the court lusted after him, and the lords hated him even more. They look down their noses against him in disgust. Can you imagine what that was like to not only see and have nothing you can do about it -even as a King- but what that must have been like for him to live upon a daily basis?"
"You do not understand, Father." he sighs. "Sebastian has told me many-a-time that a title would have meant so, so much to him. Not to have been seen as Bastard Sebastian, but even Baron Sebastian."
"I don't care." he snaps. "I don't care how happy it would have made him. I would rather him be alive and shunned than dead and titled!" Henry spat. "It is you who does not understand, Francis. You do not understand what you will do to that child if you scar him with the scorn of bastardy for the rest of his life." the King of France insists. "Your mother." Henry breathes.
The Dauphin looks upon his father. "What about her?"
"Do you know how heartbroken she was when your brother was born?" Henry asks. "You do not, you were three years from life at that point. But imagine her heartache as the man she married and had one point loved, had a healthy, living son with a woman she couldn't stand? You see, she had lost babes before you. And we all know about her own little bastard-" Henry spits, gritting his teeth and balling his hands into fists. He let that jealousy go, he had barely any right to it, after all. "but after your brother was born, she wouldn't look at me for months. She wouldn't lay with me for almost a year afterwards. She was hurt and terrified that I would cast her off for a younger woman who could bare me with heirs, without a decade of barrenness and miscarriages in her wake." Henry states. "The decade of unsuccessful trying for children was bad enough, but it was so much worse when I was actively denied the chance to even try for an heir. She did it because she was frightened, but because she wanted to hurt me, Francis. Because I hurt her, too. My father was furious of our childish debarkle. Not having an heir for just France was bad, but in your position, if your own wife does what my own did to me, it'll be a tenfold worse." Francis looks deeper at his father. "Your heir will not only be for France, but for Scotland and England, as well. If Mary denies you the chance to plant a child within her, which you know she can and will most likely do, she's always been vindictive in ways, it'll cost you a damn lot more than what your mother cost me. And your wife is a hell of a lot more prestigious than mine. You know fine well I only wed the daughter of a merchant. You wed a regnant Queen of legitimate royal blood, one who can and will give us England. You are the man, but you must play by Mary's rules. She can deny you a tenfold more than you can her. Humiliating her and turning her affections from you is not a good idea, Francis." Henry finished.
"But-"
"No." he says. "Francis, you know the right choice to make. Yes, you cannot raise him as high as you could have done if you claim him for yourself, yes. But you can make him a tenfold safer from yourself and your bloodline if you do. Francis-" Henry comes closer. "you have an option I never did. Pass the child off as the whore's husbands' child. He is dead and gone, he cannot protest even if he wanted to. Give the child the illusion of legitimacy, even if it is just in name. The child will grow here, you may see it. Your wife will not deny you for humiliating her in front of the world. And God willing, you will be gifted a child of your own."
"Father-"
"No, Francis." Henry made to leave. "You know the correct choice. Do not make a mistake you cannot recover from."
~~
Heyy!
Hope you enjoyed this oneshot. It was really fun to write. Now, I'm running a little thin on prompts and ideas for Frarytales. I've got a ton for TEML, but we're running low on things for this oneshot book and I don't want to stop writing for it. So, pop a little somethin' down in the comments please!
If you didn't read my book TB, or just don't know about Henry's rule before Reign properly started, then let me fill you in on the references I've been putting to Henry's son Henry, that was not the son of Catherine. When Queen Mary came to France as a child, she brought her four ladies in waiting, but Lady Fleming (Lola/Mary Fleming's mother) became mistress to the King. She did get pregnant and was sent home disgraced. Lady Fleming, who was also the illegitimate daughter of Mary's grandfather, bore the French King a son named Henry, and who was favoured by the King. I don't know if the rest of the stuff I wrote about him is true, but here's a little dose of history for you all. Not only did Francis and Lola share a son, but a half brother, too!
Spoiler for the next one, Catherine is told that Mary lost the baby in 2x04.
Stay safe, be kind.
Love,
me
:)
Drawn and Quartered - 2x02 - Francis + Henry
Start from the beginning
